A family of hermits have decided to come out of their shell this year. 365 different people in 365 days. Never a repeat. Find out how it all started.

Sunday, 1 January 2012

Know ALL The People!

Ever get that feeling like the days just sort of run together and life is slipping through your fingers?

I do. ALL the time.

It leaves that sick feeling in your stomach. It gives you that awareness that you are growing older every day, and that you are probably missing out on the things that you'll wish you would have done when you're an old washed up geezer talking about all the things you almost did.

I've come to realize the reason that the days can start to run together.

We don't socialize like we need to.

We're human. We evolved to live in groups. Our brain is built to allow us to interact meaningfully with those around us. It is to our benefit to do so.

But we don't.

Whereas people used to live in groups and depend on that group for support, religion, safety, etc., now we are able to live very independent lives. This has many benefits.

And one serious downside.

Most of us wake up in the morning before our kids. We get into the car (parked in our garage -- an extension of our house) and drive to our work, where we go up to our cubicle/office/desk, and work mostly by ourselves until we drive back to our little house extensions to be home with our family. And then we watch TV.

It's all good though! Because on Friday we'll have people over! Then together we will... umm.... watch TV.

I think the reason that we feel empty, the reason why there is that little naggingHOLE that we can only feel when the world quiets down, is because we are letting the social part of our brains go dormant. That is why this year we as a family have a different sort of resolution.

We're going to spend time with 365 different people over the next 365 days. We're going to blog about it, and we're going to enjoy our lives a little more. Or maybe a lot more, if my thesis is true.

So let's not call it a resolution. It's a movement, a REVOLUTION. There we go, a social revolution. Let's take back the good life that most of our grandparents lived. Let's fill it with people, and meaning.

This is the Tolman family at the outset of this project. Awww, so cute and naive, they have no idea how hard the next 365 days will be...

I think your right Ryley. We have lots of things (like blogs , FB texting) that make us FEEL social, but we need to talk, laugh, touch. REALLY interact. I've had chats with a few different people about how TV pretends to fill the void, how characters become the friends you check in with to see how life is going, how following TV reality shows masks out loneliness.

Elder Bednar's talk "Things as they Really are" is fabulous!

http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,538-1-4830-1,00.html

Good luck guys, and really, we want in on the Tolman socializing(have you even been to our new house yet?...for shame...good intentions turns into a year...)

About Us

365 people in 365 days.
We are creating a movement. We are spending time with people who matter. We are meeting new people who will matter. We are trying to fix what is wrong with our lives, and we believe that the problem is our disassociation with everyone around us. Check out our gameplan in our first post on January 1, or click on the link to our web page in our profile.